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July 9, 2008 4:48:18 AM CDT

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Freak Twisters Ravage Midwest

Posted Jan 8, 08 11:29 AM CST in US    Most Covered

(Newser) – A series of freak tornadoes touched down last night across the Midwest, killing two Missouri women and leaving a swath of destruction in their wake, CNN reports. Another person was killed when another twister hit Arkansas this morning. “I’ve never seen damage like this in the summertime,” said one Wisconsin sheriff. “To see something like this in January is mind-boggling.”

In one town, the storm destroyed at least 55 homes. The National Weather Service received 37 tornado reports last night; twisters apparently hit in Missouri, Arkansas, and Oklahoma and along the Illinois-Wisconsin border. For Illinois, it was the first January twister since 1950. One resident said the tornado “just popped right out of the clouds” and another admitted he “prayed like a sissy.”

Sources CNN, Associated Press

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Lightning flashes through the sky as neighbors look through the wreckage of a home destroyed by a tornado near Niangua, Mo., Monday, Jan. 7, 2008. At least one person was killed Monday night when a tornado...   (Associated Press)
An overturned car rests near a mobile home destroyed by an apparent tornado near Niangua, Mo., Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008. A woman living in a nearby trailer was killed in the storm Monday night, one of two...   (Associated Press)
Volunteers work to move a filing cabinet found in the wreckage of a home destroyed by an apparent tornado near Niangua, Mo., Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008. Authorities began assessing damage Tuesday after rare...   (Associated Press)
James O'Neal, right, and relatives and neighbors look through the wreckage of his home after it was destroyed by an apparent tornado near Niangua, Mo., Tuesday, Jan. 8, 2008. Authorities began assessing...   (Associated Press)
Chuck Kurtenbach, left, and his neighbor James O'Neal look through the wreckage of O'Neal's home near Niangua, Mo., Monday, January 7, 2008. O'Neal's home was destroyed by a tornado that also killed another...   (Associated Press)
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